Secundum + NP: A cognitive account of the spatiotemporal domains including logical extensions of space

Abstract

This article fills a gap in the literature on Latin prepositions, by presenting a corpus-based analysis of the spatio-temporal meanings of secundum + noun phrase throughout the history of Latin (BC 106 – AD 704). This study also considers those meanings belonging to the domain of logical relations which stem out of the space domain (ranking and beneficiary). An isolated instance of the distribution meaning is also discussed and analysed as a possible calque from Greek. My analysis, carried out within the framework of Cognitive Linguistics, emphasises the role of construal (viewpoint, plexity, granularity, metaphor) in accounting for the various meanings examined and their relations. Finally, my study shows that the spatio-temporal meanings decline over time, whereas more schematic meanings take over, which is consistent with a wealth of case studies within grammaticalisation theory.

Keywords

• Spatio-temporal meaning
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Diachrony
• Grammaticalisation